Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief - Paperback
Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief - Paperback
by Joanne Cacciatore (Author), Jeffrey Rubin (Foreword by)
If you love, you will grieve — and nothing is more mysteriously central to becoming fully human.
Dr. Cacciatore is featured in the 2021 documentary series The Me You Can't See, from Oprah, Prince Harry, and Apple TV.
Bearing the Unbearable is a Foreword INDIES Award-Winner — Gold Medal for Self-Help.
When a loved one dies, the pain of loss can feel unbearable — especially in the case of a traumatizing death that leaves us shouting "NO!" with every fiber of our body. The process of grieving can feel wild and nonlinear, and often lasts for much longer than others tell us it should.
Organized into fifty-two short chapters, Bearing the Unbearable is a companion for life's most difficult times, revealing how grief can open our hearts to connection, compassion, and the very essence of our shared humanity. Dr. Joanne Cacciatore — bereavement educator, researcher, Zen priest, and leading counselor in the field — accompanies us along the heartbreaking path of love, loss, and grief. Through moving stories of her encounters with grief over decades of supporting individuals, families, and communities — as well as her own experience with loss — Cacciatore opens a space to process, integrate, and deeply honor our grief.
Not just for the bereaved, this book will be essential reading for grief counselors, therapists, social workers, clergy, educators, and medical professionals. Its fifty-two accessible, stand-alone chapters also make it perfect for reading aloud in support groups.
Author Biography
Dr. Joanne Cacciatore is a Zen priest, founder of the international NGO the MISS Foundation, professor at Arizona State University, and a bereaved mom since the death of her daughter in 1994. She is also the founder of Selah Carefarm, the first carefarm for the traumatically bereaved in the U.S. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals including The Lancet, Social Work and Healthcare, and Death Studies.